The present invention relates to viscous fluid damping mechanism and more specifically to a novel doll eye assembly incorporating a viscous damping mechanism to control opening and closing movements of the doll eye. The damping device has particular application to eye assemblies for dolls and operates in a manner to produce a controlled uniform opening and closing movement of the doll in a very life-like manner.
The use of a viscous fluid as a damping means to control rate of angular movement of elements is not new per se. For example, this broad concept is disclosed in the Cotey U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,626 issued Sept. 5, 1972 and entitled VISCOUS GOVERNOR DEVICE. In this instance, the viscous governor device is utilized in a typical music box consisting of a rotatable picker drum having a plurality of picks projecting from its outer periphery at selected locations which engage spring fingers of a comb in a coordinated sequence to produce a particular musical composition. Rotation of the picker drum is controlled by a drive assembly including a hand windable coil spring and a detent mechanism for selectively effecting release of the spring and rotation of the drum when desired. The picker drum is hollow and has a chamber for a damping material such as silicone putty. A fixed paddle member is immersed in the damping material in the chamber, the combination producing a uniform drag on the picker drum when rotating. Even though my prior damping device is effective for the purposes intended, the damping arrangement does require a relatively large quantity of viscous material and must be housed in a closed system to prevent migration from the chamber.